Everyday Eating

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

This sandwich is hearty and satisfying. Tender, tasty warm tempeh with smooth avocado and crispy lettuce on fresh bread makes for a fabulous lunch. The tempeh is delicious on its own too and if you cut it in larger slabs be great on the grill.

Cut the tempeh into 8 equal squares, then cut each square in half by thickness so there are 16 thin squares. Whisk all the marinade ingredients (the lime juice thru the splash of water) together in a tupperware and put in the tempeh. Close the container and shake to coat the tempeh. Marinade at least five hours and preferably overnight; shake the container a few times.

When ready to cook, heat a small amount of olive oil and a few tablespoons of the marinade in a skillet just large enough to fit the tempeh pieces without overlapping. Once very hot, add the tempeh pieces and cook on medium heat for about five minutes or more-- until the liquid is absorbed and the tempeh browned. Flip the tempeh and add a few more tablespoons of the marinade and cook the same way on the second side. Once both sides are browned add a good quarter cup or so of the marinade and stir the tempeh to deglaze the pan, allow the tempeh to absorb this final amount of marinade.

While the tempeh is cooking, mash the avocado with the lime juice and a few shakes of salt. Spread a large spoonful of avocado on a piece of bread, add a few pieces of lettuce and then a layer of warm tempeh pieces. Top with another piece of bread and enjoy!

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender (very easy and little chopping needed if using a Vitamix) and blend until smooth. Test and add additional seasonings as needed. The dressing should be good and on the strong side as its taste will become diluted once it's tossed into the salad. I used the entire recipe for the salad.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Very happy with how this soup came out. Double the recipe if you want leftovers. The broth is very flavorful due to the combo of the seasonings and all the delicious fresh backyard and local vegetables. It's also fast and easy to make-- about 20 minutes start to finish.

Warm up the oil over medium heat in a dutch over (or a crummy soup pot like I used as I wasn't expecting this to be blog worthy). Add the onions and let them cook a few minutes, then stir and add the jalapeno and cook a few more while you cut the corn off the cob. Add the corn and allow to cook two or so minutes more. Add the garlic and cook another minute, stirring. By now the onions should be browned or browning and the pepper smell should be strong. Add the oregano, cumin, coriander and salt; stir. Then add the beans, water and tomato and turn the heat to high to bring to a boil. Make sure to stir well and bring anything stuck on the bottom of the pan off. Once it is boiling bring the heat down to low so it is at a low bubbling simmer. Let it simmer on low for about five minutes. Add the kale and lemon juice, stir and let cook about a minute more. Taste for salt level and you'll likely need to add at least a 1/2 teaspoon. Then serve piping hot.

You could serve with sour cream, yogurt, fresh cilantro and/or hot sauce but I found this soup was just too perfect on its own to mess with the flavors. I imagine this soup would be even better the next day, but it didn't make it past dinner.

Friday, July 5, 2013

We have massive amounts of oregano, basil, sage and mint in our garden so yesterday I made it my mission to use mass quantities of at least a few of them. The result was a really excellent dinner. The bean dish uses a hot oven which I only recommend if it is under 80 degrees.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap the garlic in foil and roast in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. You'll know it's done when tongs easily can mash the bulb. Remove from the stove and reduce the oven to 380.

While the garlic is roasting and cooling prep the rest of the bean dish and make the salad below. Combine the beans, carrot, sage, broth and a few grinds of pepper in a small dutch over. Once the garlic has cooled enough that you can handle it, use a serrated knife to cut the top 1/2 inch from the bulb so you have chopped off the very top of each clove, exposing them. Squeeze each clove on to a cutting board. Finely chop the roasted garlic and stir into the dutch oven. Cover and place in the oven for about an hour, stirring occasionally and making sure the beans never get dry. The beans should grow in size, the dish should become creamy and when you remove the pot everything should be very moist but not soupy.

Before.

Crunchy Green Salad with Basil Dressing4 side dish servings. Resist the urge to drink the dressing.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

So one of my favorite food and cooking blogs TheKitchn.com created a recipe in an attempt to replicate the amazing veggie burger of Northstar Cafe in Columbus, Ohio. I'm very excited to try it and those looking to make a homemade veggie burger that is grill-friendly this one will do it. Link to the full post and recipe below

Bring a large amount of water to a boil. Add a handful of salt and the rice, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the rice until it's a little beyond al dente. You want it a little over-cooked, but still firm. This should take about 35-40 minutes. Drain the rice and set it aside.

Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the onions are translucent and softened. Stir in the beets. Cover the pot and cook until the beets are completely tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Deglaze the pan using the cider vinegar.

Empty the black beans into a large bowl and use a fork to mash them up a bit. Add the cooked rice, the beet and onion mixture, the lemon juice, the olive oil, and all the spices. Stir to combine and then taste for seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once it tastes the way you like it, add the flour and stir until you see no more dry flour.

Heat a cast-iron skillet over the highest heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil - the oil should completely coat the bottom of the pan. When you see the oil shimmer and it flows easily, the pan is ready.

Using your hands, scoop up about a cup of the burger mixture and shape it into a patty between your palms. Set it in the pan, where it should begin to sizzle immediately. (If it doesn't sizzle, wait a minute or two before cooking the rest of the burgers.) Shape and add as many more patties as will fit in your pan. Once all the patties are in the pan, reduce the heat to medium-high.

Cook the patties for 2 minutes, then flip them to the other side. You should see a nice crust on the cooked side. If they break apart a little when you flipped them, just reshape them with the spatula - they'll hold together once the second side is cooked. If you're adding cheese, lay a slice over the burgers now. Cook the second side for another 2 minutes.

Serve the veggie burgers on soft burger buns or lightly toasted sandwich bread along with some fresh greens.

Cooked burgers should be eaten that same day. You can also save leftover mix in the fridge for up to a week and cook just one or two burgers as you want them.

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About Me

From my first post, Feb 2012:
Cooking is one of my favorite extracurricular activities... Some of my friends and family think that cooking healthy and vegetarian is an impossible, burdensome task that is out of reach, or they just don't comprehend how one could survive on vegetables alone. That, combined with my gratitude for all the blog and online cooking magazine recipes I've read through the years, I thought-- if everyone is doing it then why can't I?...